Are You Safe Writing Here on Substack? ... Are You Sure?

A few notes on defaming people

I remember a conversation I had with a friend of mine a few years ago. She had self-published a memoir which was about a terrible time in her life and how she had overcome it. What she had been through sounded horrific, I could understand her desire to write it all out. And she told me that she had worked with an editor she had paid to do this. But I had one question: ‘How on earth did you get around the legals?’

‘What legals?’ she replied.

I found this response terrifying because to me there were glaring errors that she had made (presumably with the advice of this editor who clearly wasn’t legally trained) and as far as I could see she had opened herself up to litigation from the man she had written about.

This is dangerous, not only because she could lose everything financially, but having gotten out of what was clearly a difficult and damaging relationship, she faced being dragged back into it with the threat of legal action.

You know me by now, there is no-one who believes more in the power of words and female storytelling, but this must be done responsibly and safely. But I am seeing this over and over on Substack as more women find their voices and their audiences, and I have to ask, are you sure you are safe in what you are writing here?